One of the things about swordfighting that I soon realized after I started practising Western Martial Arts is that not every swordfight stays strictly to being a swordfight. Sometimes you and your opponent get in close to each other and the game changes. Maybe your opponent decided to rush you, hoping to gain an advantage in closer quarters. Maybe, you saw an opening and decided to rush into them, closing in the game where the fight has now entered into grappling.
On January 10th 2015, we will be hosting a four-hour workshop where we look at grapples, disarms and binds with the longsword. In this workshop students will get to look at both sides of wrestling with sword:
- When to close in, and how to do it safely.
- How to chose a grappling strategy based on distance.
- How to identify and respond to pressure in the crossing.
- How to escape from grappling plays and how to counter them.
Regardless of your skill level, this workshop will cater to longsword students at various levels. For those students who are newer to swordplay, they will learn the basic grappling techniques and principles. For more experienced students, they will develop their ability to apply grappling techniques under pressure and in diverse situations.
DATE Saturday, January 10, 2015
TIME 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm
PRICE C$60.00
Prerequisite: Academie Duello Longsword Level 1, or equivalent from another school or organization.
Required Equipment: Blunt longsword trainer, gloves, mask, gorget (limited loaner gear is available through Academie Duello).
You can register online, or you can call our front desk at 604-568-9907, or you can come pay us a visit at our convenient downtown location at 412 West Hastings Street.
Devon Boorman is the Co-Founder and Director of Academie Duello Centre for Swordplay, which has been active in Vancouver, Canada since 2004. Devon’s expertise centres on the Italian swordplay tradition including the arts of the Renaissance Italian rapier, sidesword, and longsword, as well as knife and unarmed techniques. Read more from Devon Boorman.